LIVE news updates: Indian Army troops launch search ops to nab perpetrators involved in killing of Tiron Aboh

The president of a local forum has claimed he was assaulted by a group of persons during a press conference held to highlight alleged irregularities in social welfare residential schools in Telangana, police said on Wednesday.

National Scheduled Castes Reservation Parirakshana Samithi president Karne Srisailam in his police complaint said the group, including Osmania University scholar P Alexander barged into the conference room and attacked him.

A video of the incident purportedly showed Srisailam being manhandled in the press conference room and later being chased and hit. Srisailam claimed he was attacked for holding the press conference to highlight the alleged irregularities in social welfare residential schools in the state.

Five activists of the RSS/BJP were on Wednesday convicted for the murder of a CPI-M worker in Kerala's Kannur in 2006 and sentenced to life imprisonment, while nine others including a top state RSS leader were acquitted.

Communist Party of India-Marxist KV Yakub, 24, was attacked on June 13, 2006 while he was in his friend's house. The accused first threw a bomb at him and when he tried to flee for his life, he was chased and hacked to death.

Additional District Sessions Judge RL Baiju convicted and sentenced Shankaran, his brother Manoharan, Vijesh, Prakasan and Kavyesh, all local BJP/RSS leaders in the district, while acquitting nine other accused including Valsan Thillankeri, a top leader of RSS in north Kerala was let off.

Indian Army: Troops of Indian Army have launched a massive search operation in jungles of Tirap, Longding & Changlang Dists to nab the perpetrators of the killing of Tiron Aboh (MLA NPP) and 10 civilians in the area of 12 Mile, near Khonsa, Tirap dist of Arunachal Pradesh on 21 May

Indian and Chinese armies held a border personnel meeting in eastern Ladakh sector of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The Indian delegation was led by Major General Arvind Kapoor from the Fire and Fury Corps, while the Chinese delegation was led by Senior Colonel Gan Wei Han, said Colonel Rajesh Kalia.

The border personnel meet was conducted opposite at the Daulat Beg Oldi meeting point on Tuesday, the spokesperson said.

The CBI on Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that it was asking for more time to complete the investigation in a bribery case involving the agency's former special director Rakesh Asthana so as to conduct the probe in a free, fair and transparent manner.

Justice Mukta Gupta, after hearing the submissions of the counsel for CBI, Asthana and two others, reserved the order on the application by the CBI seeking extension of time to complete the probe in the case lodged against Asthana, DSP Devender Kumar and middleman Manoj Prasad.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday met her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of a multilateral meeting here and discussed issues of bilateral interest, including the implementation of understanding reached during last year's Wuhan Summit.

Swaraj arrived here on Tuesday to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council (SCO) of Foreign Ministers here in the Kyrgyz capital.

Air India on Wednesday announced that various new flights would begin from next month on domestic as well as international routes in order to meet heavy demand of seats during the summer vacation.

The national carrier said it will offer additional 3,500 seats per week on Mumbai-Dubai-Mumbai route from June 1.

Eight Army personnel were injured in a blast during a training exercise along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district Wednesday, officials said.

Officials had earlier stated that an Army personnel was killed in the blast that took place during handling of explosives but later said he was in a critical condition.

The injured have been hospitalised.

Jammu and Kashmir: Defence Ministry Spokesperson clarifies "it wasn't an IED blast, but a training-related incident. no fatal casualties but one soldier seriously injured while many other suffered minor injuries in the incident that took place along Line of Control in Poonch sector"

One security personnel has lost his life and seven injured in IED blast in Mendhar area along the Line of Control in Poonch sector.

A massive combing operation has been launched by security forces to trace the suspected NSCN militants who gunned down MLA Tirong Aboh and 10 others near Khonsa in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday, an official said on Wednesday.

The Army, the Assam Rifles and the state police have launched the operation to nab the perpetrators involved in the crime, Tirap Deputy Commissioner P N Thungon said.

Armed men abducted a girl at gun point in front of her father in Bihar's Samastipur district, triggering protests, police said on Wednesday.

The first anniversary of the police firing during the anti-Sterlite protests, which left 13 people dead last year, was observed on Wednesday with scores of locals turning up to remember the victims.

Security was beefed up in the district though there were no reports of any untoward incidents so far.

Five people of a family killed and two seriously injured after a truck rammed into a car at NH -26 near Jaring in Kalahandi district, early morning today.

The mishap took place near Jaring on National Highway No 26 when the family members were returning home at Khuseiguda village from Kesinga railway station and the truck hit their car, killing five on the spot, they said.

Two workers of a flour mill died after inhaling a toxic gas in northwest Delhi's Keshav Puram area, police said on Wednesday.

The deceased were identified as Mobin Khan and Bilal Khan, they added.

The fire department was alerted at around 9.20 pm on Tuesday about the gas leakage and two fire tenders were rushed to the spot, officials said.

Eighteen people, including 13 women dancers, were arrested from a bar in Palghar district of Maharashtra for allegedly indulging in obscenity, police said on Wednesday.

Acting on a complaint, sleuths of the local crime branch raided the bar located in Vasai area on Tuesday and arrested its manager, two waiters and as many customers, a police spokesman said.

Besides, 13 women were also nabbed for allegedly performing obscene acts, he said

The rupee ticked higher by 5 paise to 69.67 against the US dollar Wednesday amid weakness in the greenback and easing crude oil prices.

Strong FIIs inflows and higher domestic equity markets also improved sentiments for the rupee, forex dealers said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened almost flat at 69.70 against the dollar and then it strengthened by 5 paise to quote at 69.67 in early trade.

The rupee had appreciated 2 paise to 69.72 against the US dollar in the previous session.

The benchmark BSE Sensex jumped over 150 points in early trade Wednesday, led by gains in oil and gas, banking and IT stocks, ahead of the general election results.

The 30-share index was trading 157.51 points, or 0.40 per cent, higher at 39,127.31. In similar movement, the broader NSE Nifty rose 30.90 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 11,740.

In the previous session, the Sensex ended 382.87 points, or 0.97 per cent, lower at 38,969.80, and the Nifty plunged 119.15 points, or 1.01 per cent, to 11,709.10.

A medium intensity earthquake of magnitude 5.8 hit the Andaman and Nicobar islands on Wednesday morning.

The quake, which had its epicentre in the Andaman islands, occurred at 6:09 am, the National Centre for Seismology said.

The Andaman and Nicobar archipelago is prone to earthquakes.

One militant was killed in a gunfight with the security forces on Wednesday in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district.

Police sources said security forces started a cordon and search operation in Gopalpora village of Kulgam district after receiving reports about the presence of militants there.

"As the cordon around the hiding militants was tightened, they fired at the security forces triggering an encounter in which one militant has been killed.

"The slain militant belonged to Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) outfit. His exact identity is being established.

On credible input, a cordon & search operation was launched by police and security forces at Gopalpora of DH Pora area in Kulgam.